(1) The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has held that
a salary system for magistrates which is based upon the population
that each magistrate serves does not violate the equal protection
clause of the Constitution of the United States;

(2) The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has held that
a salary system for magistrates which is based upon the population
that each magistrate serves does not violate section thirty-nine,
article VI of the Constitution of West Virginia;

(3) The Administrative Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals
of West Virginia has stated that the utilization of a two-tiered
salary schedule for magistrates is no longer an equitable and
rational manner by which magistrates should be compensated for work
performed;

(4) Organizing the two tiers of the salary schedule into one
tier for magistrates serving less than seven thousand three hundred
in population and a second tier for magistrates serving seven
thousand three hundred or more in population is no longer rational
and equitable given current statistical information relating to
population and caseload; and

(5) That, by January 1, 2017, all magistrates should be
compensated equally.

(b) The salary of each magistrate shall be paid by the state.
Magistrates who serve fewer than seven thousand three hundred in population shall be paid annual salaries of $51,125 and magistrates
who serve seven thousand three hundred or more in population shall
be paid annual salaries of $57,500.

(c) For the purpose of determining the population served by
each magistrate, the number of magistrates authorized for each
county shall be divided into the population of each county. For
the purpose of this article, the population of each county is the
population as determined by the last preceding decennial census
taken under the authority of the United States government.

(d) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, the amendments made to this section during the 2013 First
Extraordinary Session are effective upon passage and are
retroactive to January 1, 2013.

(e) On or before July 1, 2013, the Joint Committee on
Government and Finance shall request a study by the National Center
for State Courts, working in conjunction with the Administrative
Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, to review
the weighted case loads in each of the magistrate courts in this
state, and present recommendations as to how the present resources
and personnel in the magistrate court system could be better
apportioned to equitably and timely meet the collective needs of
the magistrate court system in West Virginia. Based on the
findings and data generated by that study, the National Center for
State Courts shall make recommendations as to the equitable
redistribution of personnel and resources, by temporary or permanent reassignment, to better meet the needs and weighted loads
that are demonstrated to exist in the various magistrate courts in
this state. This study shall be presented to the Joint Committee
on Government and Finance no later than December 1, 2014, and shall
include recommendations and proposed legislation resulting from
such study and shall also include a plan to continue the efficient
delivery of justice by the magistrate court system and the
justification for equalization of pay for all magistrates. As a
part of the submitted study, the plan shall consider the
reassignment of magistrates or the extension of their duties and
jurisdiction to include holding court or delivering services to
adjacent counties with higher caseloads, as part of their regular
duties, or being on call as needed to serve other needs in other
adjacent counties or within the same judicial circuit.

On or before January 15, 2015, the Supreme Court of Appeals of
West Virginia shall present its recommendations to the Legislature
regarding how to allocate or assign a maximum of one hundred fifty-
eight magistrates throughout this state to improve the magistrate
process, and more equitably distribute the magistrate court
resources to efficiently and effectively meet the needs of the
citizens of this state.

(f) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, beginning January 1, 2017, all magistrates shall be
compensated equally and the annual salary of all magistrates shall
be $57,500.

Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2015 Regular Session
The WV Code Online is an unofficial copy of the annotated WV Code, provided as a convenience. It has NOT been edited for publication, and is not in any way official or authoritative.